Today’s lunchtime news chum accumulation brings three stories of potentially unintended effects, plus a fourth story of interest to those following the gay marriage debate.
First up… all of the following stories are from the “Unintended Consequence” department:
- We all know the Obama administration is trying to reduce the influence of lobbyists, and to that end has enacted rules with strict regulations and reporting requirements for lobbyists. The result: fewer people are registering as lobbyists. People whose primary job is lobbying are still reporting, but the occasional lobbyist is now no longer registering as a lobbyist. They are just unregulated policy analysts.
- A change by the Obama administration made the requirements for real estate “Good Faith Estimates” more stringent. In particular, they had to disclose all costs and be accurate within 10%. So what have mortages companies done? They are no longer calling them “Good Faith Estimates”, instead calling them “worksheets” or “loan scenarios”. Be very wary if a lender gives you one of these.
- We all know that the best type of home buyer is one that plans to stay in the house. Thus, one would think federal rules would be designed to encourage that type and discourage house flipping. A recent rule change by FHA seems to have changed that, for now investors dominate home forclosure auctions. A recent FHA rule change allowed government-backed mortgages for homes sold and resold within 90 days. As a result of this, a majority of homes sold at auctions are now going to investors paying cash, as opposed to first-time home buyers who could benefit from the low auction prices.
Next, the Chicago Times has a great article demonstrating why separate is not equal when it comes to gay marriage. The article tells the story of an Illinois gay couple, who attempted to duplicate legally the benefits they would have gained from a $40 marriage license. The cost to do so, through a lawyer… over $10,000… and the solution isn’t perfect because it still doesn’t provide protection for things like hospital emergencies. Quite an interesting read.
